MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Sherryc

Dianarose thanks for the recipe'

Clair I am late but jumping in.  Hope your healing is smooth sailing.

2FriedEggs

Clair I too pray that all is well.

You know, I know everyone blames their aromatase inhibitors for weight gain but since I just started mine I can't blame the couple pounds I gained on them. Therefore I've come to the conclusion its belonging to this thread and thinking about all the good stuff everyone puts on here -scones, chocolates, lattes, yummy umbrellas drinks, you name it, that's causing my weight gain!

odie16

Claire - Count me in for the pocket party - Bringing lattes & chocolate........ Seriously though, I will pray for a successful surgery with a speedy recovery. 

LovesChristmas-Barb

Praying things go well for you Claire...in your pocket!

juliet62

claire ,bringing the tea and chocolate biscuits for you

barsco1963

Claire - thinking of you and hoping you are doing well - sending healing vibes your way!

candie1971

Checking in to see how you are, Dianarose and Jeannie!

Claire prayers coming your way, also.

Jeannie57

Candie, I'm doing pretty well overall. Tired, slightly nauseous but manageable. Thanks for asking!



Claire, thinking of you and sending prayers up for good healing.

elimar86861

Hi Middies,  I have returned (yesterday, actually.)  First day home tired, busy. Will elaborate more later.  I'm a convert to cruising now since it is a real vacation for any woman just by virtue of not having to cook any meals for a week.  Will write some highlights in a later post, once I get some pics loaded and onto Photobucket, and feel like spending time on computer.  It was a very nice break to be offline for a while week.  Try it sometime.

Anyway, I just spent a good amount of time just catching up on this thread.  The thread carried on so well in my absence...I want to welcome MzMerz and MaddyMac.  MaddyMac, I can almost always appreciate a sarcastic dig directed towards a sub-par doctor; but I can always appreciate a well directed cream pie!  Ahahaha!!!!!!!!

Jeannie57 and Dianarose,  Your chemo is well underway now and I hope both of you are handling it o.k.  It's not the dreadful unknown anymore, so I hope you both are having the confidence now that it is definitely something you can "get through."  That is the big mental hurdle...when you think, "Yeah, yeah, I know a lot have done it, but how will I do?  What if I can't handle it?"  Isn't it a fabulous surprise when you first realize, "Hey!  I CAN DO THIS!"  Stay the course, sister-girls.

cmbear,  Ooooh, you wait until I am gone to finally bring out the scones?   I think I put in a request a couple months ago, and now all I get are a few days old ones.  Boo-hoo!  But I will let you off the hook because you did give up the recipe AND cranberry orange ones are my favorite AND because you just had your DIEP surgery.  Hope to hear from you soon, but for now just chill and recover at your own pace.  

madpeacock,  You were so tricky with the MP, using an item that so many of usavoid as much as we can.

Paula66, Your guess and mention of the words "toilet brush" for the first time ever on this thread have elevated it to new heights.  Although they seem quite difficult to use, I have now been inspired to give one a whirl in the near future having recently become aware that a toilet bowl should not be pink, with a brown waterline.

Hang in there for a few tales from Alaska and a few pics...coming soon.

Anonymous

Welcome back, Elimar!

candie1971

welcome back Elimar....I just love the way you write!

Paula66

Welcome back Eli!!!!  So glad you had a wonderful cruise!  From what I hear Alaska is very beautiful.  Farther up north is the coldest, but the cruise scene is where parts of Alaska has a few seasons. 

Eph3_12

Yay!!!!!!!!!! E's home!

elimar86861

E's not only home, but already has burned her retinas from trying to view the eclipse of the Sun by Venus happening RIGHT NOW by looking at it with a mirror and three pairs of sun glasses.  So don't anyone else try that today.  Eclipse glass ONLY, or the old pinhhole/shadow method, but I think the little DOT of Venus will be too small to see that way.  I'm now going to look on the NASA website.

Next chance...105 years.

Dianarose

Welcome back Elimar- looking forward to some pictures.

2nd infusion tomorrow morning. Not liking the nausea much.

Meece

Our neighbor came knocking on our door yesterday saying he wanted to share something with someone.  He had a pair of special eclipse glasses and he took us outside and we looked at the eclipse.  It was amazing!  No burned retinas here, and I can say I actually saw the event!!!!

barsco1963

Welcome back Elimar! Can't wait to see some pics and hear all about your trip.

Meece

Dianarose, I remember that my fear of getting sick was the biggest issue for me.  My Onc gave me a sample of Emend for my first tx and it worked like a dream.  The second tx I was supposed to get the rx for Emend but my insurance wouldn't cover it, and I suffered without it.  When I was in tears talking to my NP, she gave me samples for each of the remaining tx's.  I will always be thankful to her for having compassion for me.  There are things to help with nausea, ask your Onc.

Meece

Momine

Meece, I can't believe they wouldn't let you have emend. That seems stupid.

I had emend with the FEC treatment. For the taxotere they said I didn't need it, and they were right. I was on some other kind of anti-puke meds, but milder stuff, and I think I only took what they gave me in the IV along with the tax.  

Meece

Back then, Emend was around $250 per 3 day dose.  Guess the Insurance co couldn't justify the cost.

Momine

Wow, that is steep. I suspect it is still pretty pricy. Luckily my insurance will pay whatever my doctor orders as treatment. They even paid for neulasta without whining and that stuff is outrageously expensive. It cost about $1000 each time, which here was more than the actual chemo, doctor fee for the chemo etc.

candie1971

dianarose...I found while doing CMF, I had to take nausea drug...compazine...every day .That was the only way I could combat it. good luck today!

elimar86861

Hot off of Yahoo News and, as an early stager, I am very interested:

Blood test 'can save breast cancer patients' lives'

We take the path. report at its word when it says no LVI, but I seriously want to inquire whether I could get this CTC blood test done.  I'm supposed not to have anything circulating, but I'm all for checking that out.

On a related note, today is my big day to re-check my low platelets.  Can you all cross your fingers that I come out o.k., because I really don't want a summer of trying to figure out what the malfunction is.  I am hoping the last blood draw was a freaky fluke and today I will have platelets galore.

Meece,  Lucky you, how cool.    (Smiley in eclipse glasses!)  Lucky me, my retinas have recovered.

Anonymous

Meece...very cool for your neighbor to share!



Elimar: here's a prayer for oodles of platelets!

elimar86861

I did just fine with my platelets this morning.  Last time, I had them use an alternate vein , so then the needle was not placed well and the draw went very slow.  I surrendered my usual vein this morning and had over twice the number of platelets as last time.  I guess there is a lesson in there that  it's possible to get a false read and it doesn't hurt to do a re-check before taking further action.

Don't think I was ever actually low, but if I was then that cruise ship cuisine was great for builing them up again!  Must have been the "Chocoholic Buffet" night.  If you ever get low platelets, how great to get a 'script for that...Rx = one night of total chocolate binging and call me in the morning. 

I'm about ready to get some pics onto Photobucket, but I'm not quite ready to tell my tale yet.

Anonymous

Yeah, Elimar! Love the rx idea too!

Eph3_12

E-I knew you weren't low cause Barnabas (AKA Johnny Depp) wouldn't have visited you aboard ship.  Tell the truth now........................

elimar86861

But I did keep a lookout for for Captain Jack Sparrow!

elimar86861

Alright, let me begin some of the Cruise story...which, unlike the Fantasy Cruise we had on this thread a year ago, will be all factual.

Cruise Part One: Seattle Departure/Juneau

I flew in the day before departure, so was able to check the bags fairly early the next day and then have some time to wander in Downtown Seattle.  My son and I decided to head over to the Pike Place Market (pic #1 below) which is very active on a Sunday...lots of people milling around the street, shops, craft stalls; watching buskers, or getting jacked on caffiene at the original Starbuck's location. 

We returned to the ship (Norwegian Pearl) for a late lunch.  Their biggest dining room for open dining is called the Summer Palace. It's Russian themed and adorned with large paintings of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.  Over the course of the week, I had many a dee-licious 3-course meal in there, and I can tell you for a fact that nothing gives me more of an appetite than staring at old-timey representations of a tragic royal family wiped out by Bolsheviks, but that's just me.

Sailing was calm enough while we were in Puget Sound, but a few hours later we were on the open sea.  Oh Lordy, we were reeling and rocking and reaching for the diphenhydramine.  (That's a no-no with Tamox., but I'm a veteran rule bender and there was no way I was going to start off barfing on the first day.  It worked like a charm.) The next day was all at sea, but calmer.  We explored the ship and I am going to skip that mostly.  The Pearl is probably similar to most other cruisers out there.

Our first port day was in Juneau.  Lots of people sign up to do pricey side trips involving boats, helicopters, dogsleds, etc.  In my low-brow (and you can substitute the word cheapskate here if you want to) syle, we instead took the $16 shuttle trip to the Mendenhall Glacier (pic #2 below.)   While not being an official tour guide, our driver pointed out some hills where we spotted a few (white) bald eagle heads in the tree tops, a black bear crossing the road (he was a Yogi, living on the kindness and food scraps of strangers,) and "the biggest garage" in Alaska (what? it was a metal barn.)  An inlet blocks everyone from walking right up to the glacier, but we still got close.  At the end of the trail leading there, there is a big waterfall.  There is nothing more refreshing to drink than the water that comes from an icy mountain stream.  Sure, there is a possibility that a molecule of bear pee might be in it, but I got a couple looks like I was drinking the runoff from the pallisades along the Hudson.  Now Juneau is not what I would call a cute city.  It looks kind of scrappy.  I saw the capitol building.   It was nothing special at all.  I have an indigent hotel in my city that looks very similar.  The only way to get to Juneau is boat or plane, but everyone has cars that have been ferried in.  

    

More to come tomorrow....